For Shaft, Hayes had the powerful image of a tough but vulnerable black screen detective to inspire him; he found his all-time resonant grooves for the title track and long instrumental passages that achieved a perfect balance between the funk and the sweet. Hayes has released almost two-dozen (mostly) successful albums since. He remains humble. "I never took myself too seriously. Each time I cut a hit record I would say 'Whew, I made it again.' I was honest with my music and said 'if I hurt, I cry.' A lot of men liked it because it said what they wanted to say but didn't know how to. Women liked it because it showed sensitivity in a man, and that's what they were looking for."

Hayes could get away with sensitivity because of his tough, forbidding image in the way that Nixon could go to China. Some TV stations wouldn't let him on because they thought he was militant. "The image was my security blanket, especially the shades (tough on the outside, sensitive on the inside)," he confides.

That image - shaved head, chains draped over muscles - led to an acting career. Hayes has appeared in over a dozen films and in recurring roles on TV. His favorite role so far is that of Gandolf Finch in James Garner's Rockford Files TV series from the '80s. Hayes' most recent album is the notable Raw and Refined from '95. He also did a Shaft parody for the Beavis and Butthead Do America soundtrack; and is the star of the Isaac Hayes and Friends radio show on "KISS-FM" (WRKS) in New York, playing "classic soul and today's R&B" weekday mornings. He is also the voice of "Chef" on the Comedy Central hit animated series South Park. But most of all, he is Isaac Hayes.